I Learned to Boil Water Today

We moved into a new home recently (our last move; 9 major moves in 33 years has depleted my sense of adventure) and although the kitchen looked spectacular when I first laid eyes on it, I didn’t notice the ceramic glass stove top was induction, which means it’s not electric and it’s not gas – the two energy sources I’m familiar with using.

An induction stove has magnets beneath the ceramic glass top that create electrical currents in the pot or pan turning the cookware into a heater.  The only problem is that pots and pans have to be “induction compatible” which means stainless steel or cast iron. All of my pots and pans are aluminum-based so I realized on day 2 of life in our new home that we were not going to have a homemade dinner that night or for the next week while I figured out what pots and pans to buy (I went with stainless steel).

Although I love to cook, there are real pros to not being able to cook:  namely, the 250 color-coded boxes that needed to be unpacked (each room in the house was assigned a color that matched the duct tape used on boxes).  For a week, nourishment came from muesli and granola, fruit, smoothies, take-out, and meal delivery.  Finally,  my cookware arrived so all I had to do was figure out how to use this new type of stovetop.

Many people will tell you an induction stove top is the best of both worlds (electric and gas) because the stove provides the accuracy and control of a gas stove but is easy to clean like an electric stove top.  In addition, an induction stove top heats up and cools down very quickly.

I took out the manual for the stove top and quickly set it aside and went to “YouTube” to figure out this new appliance.  After numerous videos and not a lot of confidence, I took one of my new pots (it will never look as good as the first day out of the box), filled it halfway with water, and put it on the stovetop.  The rectangles on the cooktop threw me off (where are those f*#&ing circles I’m used to because really, who has rectangular pots and pans?) but I tried to center the pot over the little tiny squares (the size of a pinhead) down the center of the rectangle (I mean really, why would anyone design a cooktop with big rectangles and tiny squares? Pots and pans are circular!).

I pushed a few buttons and miraculously my water started to heat up rapidly. In less than 2 minutes, I learned how to boil water. It was a good day.